Sirach 44:1, 10-15, Psalm 132:11, 13-14, 17-18, Matthew 13:16-17

FEAST OF SAINTS JOACHIM AND ANNE

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS:

Sirach 44:1, 10-15, Psalm 132:11, 13-14, 17-18, Matthew 13:16-17

http://www.bibleclaret.org/bibles/english.htm

Sirach 44:1, 10-15

Beloved, today the Church celebrates the feast of Your grandparents Sts. Joachim and Anne.  Nothing is an accident - everyone of us is called to fulfill the plan of God each according to his or her vocation.

From the creation of the first man and woman and after the fall God was preparing a particular race chosen by Him to receive You into the world in order to redeem it and bring it back to Him.  He chose Joachim and Anne to bring forth the flower of His creation, Mary, into the world.  They were entrusted to raise this rarest and fairest of all jewels among the sons and daughters of man.  Without the ugly stain of original sin, redeemed by the merits of the Son of God, who being outside time and for whom nothing is impossible.  She became the sanctuary, the Arc of the Covenant that clothed Divinity with her flesh and nourished, strengthened and fed Him through her body.

She belonged to God eternally.  She is the blueprint of what every man and woman ought to be and should aspire to.  

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit honor her for she is the Mother of God - can we do less?

Psalm 132:11, 13-14, 17-18

13 For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling:

14 “This is my resting place forever; this I prefer, here will I dwell.

The Lord chose a daughter of Zion in whom He desired to make  His dwelling. Of whom He became Incarnate.  In whom His Holy Spirit made a resting place and in whom the Triune God prefers to any other dwelling.

Matthew 13:16-17

My Beloved, not many of us have the wisdom to see God's hand at work before their eyes, this is Your lament.  God was with them in a most ordinary way.  You were born of a woman as all of us are.  You were fed at her breasts as all babies are. You were educated, You learned a trade, You lived among men and because they saw You in the daily humdrum routine of their lives they refused to look beyond despite the signs, the wisdom of Your words, the authority with which You taught. Your power over, life  death and nature.  Your union with God, the power of the Holy Spirit at work in You. They were spiritually blind because they were mired in the flesh and the senses and they bound by their prejudices as I often am.  Forgive me Lord and set me free so I may  soar to the heavens on the wings of the Eagle.